Wheeling Gull Isle can i get a kiss goodnight?
nothing in life is to be feared,
it is only to be understood.
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#1
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@Hua and @Mei

The sound of waves crashing against the shore lulled Ying into a short slumber. She awoke at high evening and looked around, wondering if anyone had settled nearby. Having found herself alone, she stood and began to make her way toward the island.

She did not stop at the border. It was clear that others had arrived, based solely on the newfound diversity of scents. They would all know her, and if they were wise, they would know that the border was hers to cross.

Ying continued inland, hoping that her sisters would appear without being called.
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sequoia coast · open for threads (3/5)
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#2
Emerging forward from the foliage in long strides, her posture was clean, her walk dignified. She ought to be an empress who looked like one, no? She would have to boast an air of confidence- and she ought to groom that raggedy pelt more frequently too.

As if a miracle, a white ghost hung just past the border, cyan eyes alight. Ying. She would recognize the nuvujak anywhere, and in recent days she hoped to see her all the more. Huā broke away from her façade, bursting into a run towards the girl. Halting like a car pressing on the brakes suddenly, she slid to a stop just in front of her. Without a word, silently she wept while planting lapping kisses on her sister's cheek eagerly, communicating the message silently of where were you? I missed you so much!
nothing in life is to be feared,
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#3
The greeting was not welcomed, but received with a cold glare. Had her return been eagerly anticipated, or simply expected? Ying continued to walk past her sister, huffing a sound of frustration as she turned toward the sea. 

The huntress did not turn back to face her sister. Where is Mei? she asked, knowing that she couldn't have been far. The twins were hardly apart from one another, which she imagined to be even more true in the aftermath of their banishment.
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sequoia coast · open for threads (3/5)
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naturally, mei was nigh always beside her remaining sister, especially after all that'd transpired in recent events. she glided across the sand with a flagged tail, a banner that signified the importance of her rank even in the pack's infancy.

就在这儿, she announced evenly, coldly. mei witnessed ying's turning away of their other sister's affections, & she was in no mood for any more childishness. 但是我必须问你:你去哪里了?为什么你不早与我们见面 finally, she could ask the questions that'd burned at her tongue for too long now. her displeasure was clear, for she had shed many tears over the abandonment of her beloved sister, who either naïvely didn't seem to realize this or simply didn't care.


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Ying did not return her affection. So the empress steps back, reassuming her cold and dignified posture, her puffed chest and shoulders back. Ying only poses a question of Mei's location, which is answered by the girl herself, slipping out from the cover of night. 

Mei's tone was icy and she got straight to the point. The question which had hovered in Huā's mind for many days and nights was brought into the open, and silently Huā praised her mentally for the directness she had that the mermaid lacked. 

Making the choice to return Ying's coldness, she glances down at her silver feet with annoyance very purposely. 您可能不会知道,但是这里有一个小组。 Her eyes flit temporarily to the border which Ying had crossed, before coming back to Ying coolly. 在突然消失后,您认为您可以像这样越过边界吗? She asks, all of her previous warmth gone, replaced by an icy exterior.
nothing in life is to be feared,
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You are not my keeper, she barked. The feeling of inferiority was not unfamiliar, but it was unwelcome. She wondered if in her short absence her sisters had forgotten the importance of her role. Who were they without her, but helpless foreigners with a list of vendettas?

The cool gaze of Hua was returned with an upturned frown. Ying did not move, nor did she drop her posture. It wasn't unlike her sister to assume a role of importance, and with no one around to keep her in check, the guardian was not surprised by the sudden inflation of ego.

After a moment's thought, Ying opened her mouth to respond. You mean, the border that I set? she asked, looking back over her shoulder, And the group of our family, that formed, they eat from my caches? A look was shot at Mei, then back at Hua. This group is only yours because I'm not interested in leading it. Remember that.

Until this pack was official, there was no rank. There was blood, and there was tooth, neither of which she was afraid to bare. It was unlike Ying to display such behavior, but as her blood grew to a simmer, she found herself unable to hold back.
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sequoia coast · open for threads (3/5)
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ying snapped & avoided her questions, which stoked the flames in her belly. her ears flattened in offense, gaze hardening when huā interjected. even mei found her hostility a bit too cold; she would not chase her own sister from their borders, & there was no questioning that she was welcome here. ying did the legwork to allow this pack to come together, & unlike huā, she could acknowledge this through the haze of emotions.

but the topic was drifting into petty arguments mei had no interest in, as was common between the two. in an effort to steer it back on course, she said, 我们正在偏离主题。请允许我重新提出我的问题:您为什么对我们如此不高兴?我们非常担心你, 映. because at the root of it, that was what she really wanted to know.


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Ying's words only served to anger Huā further as the siren's fur spiked along her spine. She found her logic strange- the girl had been gone for a week, the borders had been refreshed by those who were here. Not those who were off somewhere far away. Anything Ying had left behind from her last visit to the island must have been replaced by now. 

And when she calls the caches hers- not theirs, but hers- Huā narrows her eyes. It took all her will to keep her black lips from raising to show pearly fangs. And the way she implied that she would be in charge if she wanted to! Perhaps it was true, perhaps not, but Huā was unwilling to acknowledge it. She was the center of the group, the one who resolved arguements between Mei and Ying. She was never the perpetrator. Until now. But she saw herself as the perfect balance; reserved but not rude, in touch with her feelings and yet logical. Of course she was the prime empress! The idea of Ying ruling made her scoff mentally. The pack would end up as some sort of harem, with Ying's foreign male concubines all tending to her every need. What a laugh.

Mei repeats her question, and a good thing too- were it not for her sister's calmer disposition, she might've snapped right then and there. I worried about you too Ying. You have no idea. But she refused to confess it out loud. The moment Ying had denied her affections, was the moment she gave up the right to Huā's love expressed in words. For now she hung behind Mei silently, cold gaze still boring into Ying's own.
nothing in life is to be feared,
it is only to be understood.
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#9
She stepped away, shaking her head in disbelief. The plan had never been to return with such hostility; a part of Ying was ashamed for having allowed it to happen this way. She thought about how she would respond while peering into the treeline. When did you stop trusting me? she asked, voice low and audibly fragile. 

Ying turned back to face her sisters with furrowed brow and focused gaze. When have I ever had anything but your best interest at heart? She was nothing without Hua and Mei. She was a protector, which meant nothing if she had no one to protect. 

Yuèguāng settled into a seat and lifted a forepaw to rub at her throbbing temple. Was she even making sense? Back at Rusalka, it felt like you doubted me. Mei had rebelled by standing and lifting her voice, a hostile move made at a critical point in the altercation. Hua had responded to Erzulie, furthering accusations that should have been allowed to die on their own. Had either of them taken a single cue from Ying, they would have still had stability. Why had they acted out?
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sequoia coast · open for threads (3/5)
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thankfully, her sisters listened. ying's ire gave way to pain that she voiced for the first time. though glad she finally received an answer, mei frowned. 我没怀疑你,我只是不信任他们。当他们像对待狗屎一样对待我时,我再也忍受不了那些野蛮人在那里, she explained, calmer but clearly still bruised from rusalka.


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Ying's words finally had Huā feeling guilty for the way she'd behaved. She had never truly meant to hurt her sister- neither here, nor in Rusalka. It was only the boiling of emotions that always seemed to burst in ways which made things worse. Her shoulders slump, she nearly deflates as her posture loses all authority. 

She'd hurt Ying. She never wanted to, and yet she had. 

She nodded following Mei's words, before adding some of her own. 我没怀疑你。 我很愚蠢; 我选择的话很差。 She bows her head with shame, reflecting now on the situation. On the way her attempt at avoiding blame was selfish- the way she'd thrown the dirt on Ying to save herself.
nothing in life is to be feared,
it is only to be understood.
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#12
The guardian thought carefully about each response. Rusalka wasn't ideal, she responded, turning careful gaze to Mei, but now we have enemies. Starting a pack with more rivals than allies was difficult, but she knew that this went without saying. The twins had acted on emotion and impulse; Ying blamed herself for not being able to guess that this would have happened.

The apology was an unnecessary, albeit appreciated gesture. A nod was made toward Hua in silent recognition. Someone should be sent for negotiations — Ying stood and began to pace — Moonspear, a pack in the plains. They might be willing to strike a deal, or something. She wondered how stress could mature someone so quickly, but thought that she liked it too much to complain.
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sequoia coast · open for threads (3/5)
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when ying pointed out that they now had enemies, mei sighed. 可能是这样。我知道我本可以做出更好的反应,但是... i was at my breaking point. 木已成舟,覆水难收。对不起

ying sounded much like a leader when she spoke of negotiations & a pack mei hadn't heard of before. being a hermit, mei hadn't even considered relations with other packs. with how isolated they were on this island, she was content to pretend the outside world didn't exist. if they did have an enemy now though, it was wise to have allies. 我们可以派出大使,然后, she agreed with a nod, trusting her sister in this area of expertise she sorely lacked in.


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Huā nods; starting a pack with enemies was a shaky foundation. She worried for the safety of herself and her people- and their enemies were not so far off. 

Ying acknowledges her apology silently, before beginning to speak of people and places she had gone that Huā knew nothing of. She narrows her eyes slightly in contemplation- how much could she trust people whom she had not met? What could Ying tell her about their morals; what if they were just another Rusalka? But Huā soothed her own paranoia, knowing this was no time to be overly critical, to scrutinize. She nods at the proposal. 好。我会指派一个人。 She affirms. Her mind begins to wander over the cousins as she ponders who would be a good fit, both in travel and social skills.
nothing in life is to be feared,
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Again, apologies were unnecessary. She chirped her acceptance to Mei and turned to Hua, concern clear across her expression. Are you forgetting something? Ying asked, Everyone, like, sucks at talking. Lei was probably the most outgoing of the group, but even she could be questionable around foreigners. Ying would have offered herself, had she any interest in leaving the island before formation.

This would be one of many moments wherein she was glad that leading was not her job. The twins could handle the hard parts while she slept at the border.
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sequoia coast · open for threads (3/5)
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She hadn't forgotten most of them were not versed in common &/or not keen on foreigners, but Ying was the one to suggest having any contact with other packs. 有人必须这样做。我们会及时找出谁, she said, not finding the issue too pertinent. then, tentatively, she asked, 所以...我们还是团队吗? her ears planed, tail tip at her hocks. she wanted to be absolutely sure all was well & good between them now.
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She smirks at Ying's point- it was funny because it was true. Few of them had the social skills to talk to the locals, and even fewer desired to. The best options that cane to mind were Lei, Riluo, Ying. She knew she would want Ying nearby in the coming days, considering the long trip she'd taken. So Huā would seek out the other two perhaps, inquire over whether either of them were interested. But for now she stuck by Mei's line of thought. 美说对的- 给我一点儿时间。

It seemed then, that their conversation was coming to the peaceful close she had desired. Mei tested the waters with her question, and Huā nodded at her, and then at Ying. Her gaze remained on Ying, hoping that the nuvujak would agree as well.
nothing in life is to be feared,
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Relax, Mei, she laughed, It's just a joke. Ying drew in a deep breath and released it with a laugh. It was good to be back home, but even better to know that grudges had been dropped. Still a team. She walked forward and bumped either sister's shoulder, preening any fur within reach as she went. If their business here was finished, then she would head into the territory and begin a small hunt.
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sequoia coast · open for threads (3/5)